Iran says new attack drone modeled on captured US aircraft

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has built a new attack drone which is similar to a U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle captured five years ago, Iranian media reported on Saturday.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency says the “Saegheh” (Thunderbolt) drone is similar to the RQ-170 Sentinel spy drone. Iran’s state-run Press TV says the long-range drone can carry four precision-guided bombs. Neither report gave figures for the drone’s range.

Iran claimed to have shot down an RQ-170 drone used by the Central Intelligence Agency in December 2011 and broadcast footage of the recovered aircraft. It also claims to have captured three American ScanEagle drones.

Iran said last year that it had successfully tested its replica of the RQ-170.

Also on Saturday, Tasnim published photos of what it said was a U.S.-made MQ-1C drone captured recently by the Guard. It did not say when or how the drone was captured.